The Impact of EU Accession on Turkish Industrial Relations and Social Dialog

This article examines whether the European Union membership process is transforming the 'deep structure' of Turkish industrial relations. We make an attempt to illustrate this through the prism of Turkish experience in social dialog regarded as an indispensable tool of the European social model. Turkish industrial relations is characterized by restrictive labor laws, employer hostility to unionization, a large informal economy and labor market, and strong state intervention, which have historically constituted the main elements of 'the deep structure' of Turkish industrial relations. In procedural terms, the institutions for social dialog have been established but the influence of the social partners is limited because of the dominance of the state and the weakness of labor. The existing attempts at developing social dialog rest on shaky foundations emanating mostly from the state's and employers' disrespect of basic labor rights